The phrase “pop-up restaurant” typically conjures images of trendy new eateries and molecular gastronomy, not centuries-old, family-run vineyards. But that’s precisely the sort of establishment holding a series of pop-up events at SoHo’s chic Mondrian Hotel through Saturday night.
Marchesi Antinori, a 625-year-old family wine empire, has created a temp version of its vaunted Florence restaurant, Cantinetta Antinori, in a private dining room at the Mondrian, decorating the hotel’s sleek modern interiors with murals of the family’s tree and Tuscan estate.
The pop-up is the brainchild of Alessia Antinori, one of the three daughters of Marquis Piero Antinori, head of the family’s wine-based empire. “My sisters had never even heard of pop-ups,” says the 37-year-old, who has a degree in oenology and is in charge of marketing the family wines in the US. She took notice of the growing popularity of pop-up restaurants in New York and thought it would be a great way to showcase her family’s wines. “They are meant to be consumed, with good food at the table,” she says. “They are not meant to be drunk alone.”
Alessia is co-hosting the dinners with her older sister, Allegra, 41, while the eldest sister, Albiera, stays home in Florence to oversee the opening, later this month, of a new Antinori headquarters, visitor’s center and museum in Chianti.
Lest they be alone in SoHo, the Antinori wines are paired with a decadent, four-course Tuscan meal prepared by a Cantinetta chef flown over from Europe for the pop-up. Dinner begins with the Montenisa Brut Rosé, a sparkling wine created by the Antinori sisters and served with a bounty of aperitif nibbles, from bruschetta to veal and chicken liver crostini. Then, a fresh, fragrant Umbrian white, Bramito del Cervo, is paired with a first course of head-on prawns on a bed of rosemary-infused cannellini beans. Next comes Antinori’s flagship red wine, the tobacco-scented Tignanello, and silky spinach and ricotta dumplings in a pool of tomato cream and Parmigiano-Reggiano. They’re followed by Il Bruciato, a Bordeaux-style red from the family’s estate in the vogue-ish Tuscan coastal region of Bolgheri; it’s served with a decadent truffled beef tenderloin.
“I’ve had white truffles on pasta, white truffles in risotto, but never shaved onto a perfect piece of beef until tonight,” says Constance Dalvito, a sleekly dressed 40-something mother of three at the pop-up with her husband for their anniversary, as she bites into a morsel of perfectly rare beef flecked with whole wafers of olive-oil dusted white truffles. Dalvito had been a fan of the original Cantinetta when she was a student in Florence, so she jumped at the chance to revisit it, pop-up style, in NYC with her husband, Greg.
The dinner ends sweetly but all too soon with panna cotta on a bed of spicy soft fruits.
Growing up, the Antinori sisters, who are the 26th generation (no, that’s not a typo) to work in the family’s wine business, split their time between an imposing, ancestral stone Renaissance palace in Florence and the family’s wine estates in Tuscany and Umbria.
Alessia tells how in one corner of the palace there’s a small, shoulder-high window with the word “vino” etched into the stone.
“In medieval times, it was the custom for the townspeople to come to the window to buy eggs, prosciutto, pecorino cheese and, of course, flasks of Chianti that were produced on our country estates,” she says. “Not that we had so much wine to sell. Centuries ago, it was made mainly by priests in the Renaissance, and they drank most of it.”
In 1957, the family opened a small restaurant in a corner of the palace and called it Cantinetta Antinori. The focus at the restaurant, then and now, is on simple dishes made from fresh, mostly home-grown ingredients and, of course, the family wines.
In recent decades, additional Cantinettas in Zurich, Moscow and Vienna have opened. “They were a big success,” says Allegra, who directs the restaurants’ operations. “We decided not to test our luck by opening any more.”
If the happy, truffle-laced diners in attendance at Wednesday night’s pop-up are any indication, the temporary opening at the Mondrian will also be quite a success.
“Somehow, we’re not in a Renaissance palace,” Allegra says, with a laugh. “But we’re trying to keep the same spirit.”
At press time, seats were still available for Cantinetta Antinori dinners ($165, including tax and tip) tonight and tomorrow. Seatings are at 7 and 9:30 p.m. For reservations, call 212-389-0000 or go to http://www.mondriansoho.eventbrite.com.